Academic Interests

I am interested in how psychology manifests itself in society and helps in influencing late modern subjectivity (often referred to as «the therapeutic culture»). In order to examine this broad field I take on a outside perspective on psychology as a science, profession and culture by engaging with adjoining disciplines such as sociology, media studies, studies of professions, theory of science and philosophy.

This article draws upon the psychoanalytic framework of Lacanian discourse analysis to explore political subjects’ affective investment in green ideology. An analysis of key texts by the Norwegian Green Party reveal how the Green Party postulate «nature» as the symbolic structure for man’s existence (the big Other), which the subject is invited to maintain through the notion of «sustainability» and promise of jouissance. The Green Party gives a conflicting account of the bond between man and nature, which serves both as a limit where symbolization falls short and an explanation to the constituent lack that green ideology necessarily must cover up. Finally, we discuss the prospect of a post-fantasmatic approach to green politics in the current political climate.

This article looks at the impact of climate variability on communities in northeast Bangladesh through narrative-based interviews with community actors. We investigate the construction of climate knowledge looking particularly at processes of knowing by applying a cultural psychological approach. The findings reveal that personal experiences with weather were the most common source of knowledge on climate variability. Existing knowledge systems, such as the seasonal calendar aided participants in reasoning and sense making about changes, and elders, media outlets, and science formed the most trusted sources of climate information. Lessons drawn from the study emphasize a need to include cultural and contextual factors when investigating how people construct and build climate knowledge in the future.

The purpose of this qualitative enquiry was to map the psychological motives behind sustainable lifestyles. Narrative interviews with inhabitants (N = 8) of the ecovillage in Hurdal north of Oslo and the Sustainable Lives movement in Bergen were conducted. A thematic analysis shows that the informants express taking responsibility for climate change, which suggests that they perceive sustainability as a moral issue. They report a greater sense of alignment with their own values when living sustainably, something that is experienced as rewarding, but living sustainably is also recognized as more positive in own right. For example, the participants enjoy a lifestyle that is more social after a change to sustainable living. Nevertheless, there is acceptance that the informants sometimes have to live in ways that are less environmentally friendly in order to achieve the long-term goal; this duality helps them to continue their sustainable lifestyle even in the face of setbacks.

The high rates of depression – as well as the widespread diagnosis of depression – are both controversial and contested in contemporary late-modern society. Issues of flawed definition have been voiced to account for the bourgeoning rates of depression and the diagnosis has been subject to criticism of medicalization and pharmaceuticalization. Others have stated that the actualization of depression is to be seen in light of societal and structural transformations. Be that as it may, depression is affecting more and more people and the diagnosis is prevalent. In this context, a more nuanced understanding of how people relate to, experience and ascribe meaning to their suffering as depression and being diagnosed as such is needed. This article draws on qualitative interviews from Denmark and Norway to explore lay accounts of depression in contemporary late-modern society. The findings reveal that lay accounts of suffering, including living with the diagnosis of depression is a dynamic process, meaning that people vacillate in and out of various perspectives of suffering and categorization to make it fit their specific life situation and prospects of the future. In this article we thus highlight the perspectives of thoroughly analyzing suffering and the diagnostic experience by applying the overall concept of process, which takes on different meanings in the course of the analysis.

Personal and political action on climate change is traditionally thought to be motivated by people accepting its reality and importance. However, convincing the public that climate change is real faces powerful ideological obstacles1, 2, 3, 4, and climate change is slipping in public importance in many countries5, 6. Here we investigate a different approach, identifying whether potential co-benefits of addressing climate change7 could motivate pro-environmental behaviour around the world for both those convinced and unconvinced that climate change is real. We describe an integrated framework for assessing beliefs about co-benefits8, distinguishing social conditions (for example, economic development, reduced pollution or disease) and community character (for example, benevolence, competence). Data from all inhabited continents (24 countries; 6,196 participants) showed that two co-benefit types, Development (economic and scientific advancement) and Benevolence (a more moral and caring community), motivated public, private and financial actions to address climate change to a similar degree as believing climate change is important. Critically, relationships were similar for both convinced and unconvinced participants, showing that co-benefits can motivate action across ideological divides. These relationships were also independent of perceived climate change importance, and could not be explained by political ideology, age, or gender. Communicating co-benefits could motivate action on climate change where traditional approaches have stalled.

The Psychologization of Society explores the manner in which psychology has increasingly crept into everyday life, with nature reduced to a source of mental health, the belief in God motivated by health not salvation, sin and evil turned into psychiatric diagnosis and the market economy being primarily driven by psychology. Showing that Norway, like the United States and Great Britain, is currently subjected to a psychological worldview or "therapeutic ethos," Madsen examines an array of spheres such as media, law, religion, self-help literature and cosmetic surgery to shed light on the ways in which the therapeutic ethos, rather than simply "triumphing" over them, actually blends in with regional norms and values. A study of the psychological imprint on Western countries as a form of the global democratisation of psychologised self-care, this book explores the boundless struggle to be the "best version of yourself" in contemporary neoliberal culture. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology, psychology and cultural and media studies with interests in therapeutic discourses and paradoxes of health.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, antibiotic resistance, and other global challenges pose major collective action problems: A group benefits from a certain action, but no individual has sufficient incentive to act alone. Formal institutions, e.g., laws and treaties, have helped address issues like ozone depletion, lead pollution, and acid rain. However, formal institutions are not always able to enforce collectively desirable outcomes. In such cases, informal institutions, such as social norms, can be important. If conditions are right, policy can support social norm changes, helping address even global problems. To judge when this is realistic, and what role policy can play, we discuss three crucial questions: Is a tipping point likely to exist, such that vicious cycles of socially damaging behavior can potentially be turned into virtuous ones? Can policy create tipping points where none exist? Can policy push the system past the tipping point?